Fresh air?

Abstract

Peter Singer has been skeptical towards the idea of reflective equilibrium since the 70s, and thinks that certain recent empirical research about moral intuitions, performed by Joshua Green at Princeton University, provides support for this skepticism. Green and his colleagues used modern brain imaging techniques to explore what went on in people’s brains when they were contemplating certain practical dilemmas. The aim of this essay is to see if one can squeeze out any skeptical implications from their results. The main conclusion is that these results do indeed provide material for a skeptical challenge, but that this is a challenge not specifically for the idea of reflective equilibrium, but for the possibility of rational argumentation in ethics in general, including Singer’s own attempts to justify his moral convictions.